Covering the Bases at NCAAs with U-M Baseball: Sunday
6/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Game one, take two. At least the pavement is showing signs of drying and the sky isn't a monochrome gray. In the wee hours of the morning, "someone" decided to brighten freshman Anthony Toth's day, decorating his door with happy birthday wishes and a bag of Hershey's kisses. Toth insists he has no idea who did it since his parents aren't here (which is apparently a good thing because the team's record when they're in the stands is not exactly solid).
The team went through its usual routine of breakfast about an hour before loading the bus and heading to Goss Stadium. The same tailgaters occupied their same spots as the bus pulled in around 10:15. Batting practice got underway at 11 as the schizophrenic Oregonian weather continued to play its tricks on us. One minute, sunny and -- gasp -- almost warm. The next minute, sprinkles and ominous clouds. In what has become standard protocol, about 20 minutes before game time the clouds opened and we received yet another rain shower. Apparently that's Oregon for ya.
The first pitch was delivered at 1:06 p.m. with sophomore All-Big Ten first-team pitcher Zach Putnam on the mound. The stands were packed, with all but one small section filled with orange and black. Putnam coolly plowed through Oregon State's first three batters, handing the mound over to Beaver rookie Jorge Reyes. The pair had perfect games going until the bottom of the fourth when Jason Christian lined a single to left field for the Wolverines. Only three more hits would follow for Michigan, but that seemed like hitting the jackpot compared to OSU.
In eight and two-thirds inning, Putnam faced 29 batters, struck out eight, walked three and allowed just one hit. That one hit, however, came in the top of the ninth with two outs and a runner on second who scored the winning -- and only -- run of the game. Putnam was relieved by Michael Powers in the ninth and received a standing ovation from the Oregon State crowd. Powers ended the half inning by striking out the only batter he faced, Mitch Canham.
As the crowd filed out of the stadium several Beaver fans passed by the Michigan locker room complimenting Putnam's performance. One fan yelled, "Tell that No. 3 that's the best thrown baseball game I've ever seen." Easy for him to say, his team just won!
In the press conference afterwards, Coach Maloney commented that Putnam was the nation's No. 3 prospect out of high school but wanted to be a Wolverine. Responding to that, the sophomore said, "I told the people running the (Major League Baseball) draft it would take a life-changing amount of money to get me." He wanted to be a Wolverine and help take Michigan back to Omaha. The Wolverines head into tomorrow knowing they need to win the next two games to achieve that, or the season will be over.
